Three Days of Christmas
by Stephy825
Summary: It's almost that time of year that Shun would rather avoid than celebrate. But then there's always Dan to give him the holiday spirit...plus the fun in Christmas of course.
1. December 23

**December 23**

Once upon a time in a city very far away, there was a boy of nine who was staring outside of his window; sighing as the little snowflakes fell from the sky. His black hair was tied up to a thin ponytail, and his brown eyes were drooping from the early morning. He had recently woken up, and already he was slightly annoyed. It was three days away from Christmas Day, and Shun did not want to participate.

Well, he knew that there's no arguing with Dan though.

The boy had anticipated this after what happened on Halloween. His friend was indeed quite shocked when he found out that Shun didn't know about occasion. What more if he knew that he didn't know about Christmas? A supposed holiday for girls and boys to receive presents from Santa Claus? Shun didn't like it. Not one bit. He hated Christmas because he found it so kiddy and make-believe. "Why would an old man be wasting time making toys for children around the world and go through each and every chimney anyway?" he mumbled while letting a snowflake touch his open palm.

Shun looked down and gazed at the white blanket of snow on his yard. He did so for a few moments until he noticed something moving down there. It was a little hard to see with the light fog surrounding the house, but he was sure that it was a person. That's all he needed to know. The to-be ninja groaned as he forced himself to get dressed, for any minute now the doorbell would ring and he had to answer the door.

-o-

"Hi Shun!" the brunette greeted cheerfully as he gave a big toothy grin. "Oh, yeah, Merry Christmas!"

The raven-haired boy sighed as his serious face didn't change. They were both at the entrance to his house, and Shun was leaning at the door as his attention was on his friend. "It's not Christmas yet Dan."

"I know, but it's normal to greet people before it anyway." he replied while rubbing his nose with his mitten. The older male inwardly groaned. "What are you doing here?"

"To bring you down town! I knew you were going to hang around here all day! Don't you get bored of doing that?" the other shook his head, and Dan frowned. "Well today's going to be different. Me and my buds are going to have a big snowball fight today, and you're helping our team out!"

"And why should I help you throwing balls of snow at other kids I don't even know exactly?"

"...you're mean Shun." he muttered; pouting. "Anyhow, c'mon! Let's go!" without warning, the brunette grabbed his wrist as usual and dragged him outside. Shun was happy that he dressed himself up in some nice, warm clothing before he opened the door...for he may have froze to death in the open cold. The pair went straight down the path and was soon surrounded by various buildings. Dan's home was somewhere along the way, but the two were headed to the park in the city. The big showdown between different teams will be there.

Once the duo reached the large area, the other member of Dan's group was there waiting. "Glad to see you're here Dan." the short blond said. He quickly noticed his companion and smiled. "You're name's Shun right? Dan told me a lot about you."

"Shun, lemme introduce you. This is Marucho, we met a day after he moved here with his parents."

"Nice to meet you." Marucho greeted as he did a small bow.

"Same here." the raven-haired boy replied.

"Okay, enough with the greetings, let's build our fort!" the brunette shouted as he pumped his fist up in the air. Shun was a little skeptical though. "I thought we were going to start hitting other people?"

"I knew Dan didn't explain it that thoroughly..." the blond muttered while exhaling sharply. "We're actually going to play Capture the Flag Shun. We're only given a short time to build some kind of defense; an obstacle enough to slow down the other teams from getting our flag easily. The snowball fight was just the offensive part of the battle." he explained. "We're up against three different groups. Each positioned at the far ends of the park. Since the place is almost a perfect square, we're given equal ground to fight against them."

"...for a seven-year-old, he's knows what he's talking about. He's even smarter than Dan..." the raven-haired boy thought.

"So let's stop chatting and let's get started! The others must be starting already or something!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Alright, since Dan is more experienced in making snowballs, he'll be in charge of our ammo." Marucho said. "I'll start with the fort. And Shun, since you're kind of new to this, can you spy the other teams to see their progress?"

"You're asking the best person for the job Marucho. Shun's grandfather is a ninja after all!"

"Well I haven't trained much yet but-"

"Okay okay!" the eight-year-old cut in; interrupting him. "We should begin as soon as we can!"

And so, the three did their separate jobs and all took it very seriously. Even Dan was, for there was a prize involved to whoever team win. The eldest did not know about it though, still, it wasn't an excuse for him to slack off. Pretty soon, he was staring at an enemy group from a bush nearby them. He felt like he was in some kind of secret mission or something. And the people down there were doing as Dan thought. They were piling up the white stuff, and he could see the green flag right there, completely unguarded. He could snatch it now without them knowing, but that would have been unfair. This was supposed to be the allotted time for them to prepare.

Back at the base, Dan was making hills of snowballs and didn't plan on stopping either. Marucho was doing a pretty good job too making a kind of cage that surrounded their flag. He also did this to other nearby areas so that the enemies would have a hard time figuring out which one contained the flag. A little while after, Shun came back and reported what he saw to the both of them. The brunette then said that they had to wait for the horn to be blown to start moving in. That was the signal. "All three teams are making the same type of defense. I think that Dan and I will be in the attack, and Marucho will stay here in case anyone tries to take our flag."

"Remember, we need to collect all three different flags to win." Dan reminded. "So when our flag gets captured. It still ain't over till it's over."

"Yeah." the other two agreed in unison. Right after that, they heard a loud sound echoing from the middle. "That's the signal! Let's go!" Shun nodded and swiping a couple of snowballs from the pile, they ran ahead in to the clear path. They soon were standing right in the middle, and to the nine-year-old's surprise, he saw others approaching from a distance. "Dan, think that you can take care of this?"

"What are you planning Shun?"

"I'm going to sneak in and take their flag when they're not looking. I need you to distract them and make sure that they won't get through this path okay?"

"That's a great idea! None of my friends would dare go over the fence!" he replied while showing a big smile. The other boy nodded and jumped to a nearby tree, landing safely on a thick branch. "Good luck Shun!" he shouted as he threw a snowball at another kid. The war had begun, and the amateur ninja was able to escape it thankfully.

Moving quickly, he jumped from one branch to the next and was soon at the first base he checked out. There was one girl there, standing near her wall and ready to throw if she sees a person coming. Shun smirked as he moved to the rear and silently removed the plastic, white stick from the snow. And as quickly as he came, he left and headed towards the next one.

This time, they were two boys that we guarding the flag. "This is going to be tricky. They're right behind the flag this time." he muttered to himself. He needed a way to get them off their position. "Oh yeah, I still have a snowball with me..." the rookie ninja then threw his ammo not far from their base so that they can hear it. "What was that?"

"I dunno. Let's check it out!"

"That was almost way too easy." Shun thought. He had to act fast though, or else they'll realize that it's just nothing and come back. With a quick swipe, he grabbed the blue flag from its post and left the scene.

The only thing left now was the yellow flag. And it was a whole lot more complicated than the previous two. This time, none of the members have left their fort. Each of them had a different post and were looking around like an eagle or something. The trick he used last time wouldn't work on them. Gripping the two sticks tighter, he decided to do a direct assault and run for it. It wasn't his style, but it would be better than to sit and wait. After all, his friend Dan was being was probably being plummeted by snowballs now just trying to stall for him. The ninja gulped, but then he steeled himself for the worst. "Here we go."

Building up power on his legs, he launched himself high up in the air, and landed smoothly right behind the yellow flag. All three of the kids were too stunned to move; they just stood there and gapped as Shun grabbed the flag and sprinted away from them and headed straight for the battle field.

For a few moments, everyone was quite shocked when a boy suddenly jumped so high it's as if he came from the sky and dodged the snowballs thrown at him. They were even more surprised that he was holding each of their flags, and he was headed back already! But as much as they tried, Dan wasn't a total pushover and was able to cover for the nine-year-old till he reached Marucho.

And that signaled the end of the game.

-o-

"Wow, you were amazing Shun! I never knew you could move that fast! You're like a real ninja!" Dan exclaimed as he licked his lollipop.

"You...never told me that there was candy at stake here." he replied as he was licking his own lollipop.

"That doesn't really matter, after all I got to see your skills in action!" he beamed. "You're definitely going to be in my team if we have another snow war!" the boy groaned, he didn't want to go through that again. Though he had to admit, it was kind of fun...

"Oh yeah Shun? Can I ask you something?"

"What is it Dan?"

"Can you sleepover at my house tomorrow?"

"How come?"

"My mom said that we need more help in preparing for Christmas you see. We didn't get to set up all the decorations yet."

"And so you're asking me..?"

"Yep! So can you? Please..?"

"...alright. I guess...I can help out."

"Yay! Thanks Shun! You're the best!"

* * *

**A/N : **Were you guys surprised that Marucho makes an appearance here? No? Oh well. Anyhow, yay I made it! This is the sequel to A Halloween Trilogy. But it was so hard to stick to three themes only, so I decided to make it three days. So it's the same drill. One chapter per day. And Christmas is going to be the end.

Shun hates Christmas huh? That's...a little cute. Can Dan change his opinion? We'll have to see tomorrow! Please review guys!


	2. December 24

**December 24**

**Christmas Eve**

Shun felt a little awkward standing right in front of his friend's house while grasping the strap of his backpack. He wondered whether he may have come too early or he may be a bother, but it was Dan himself that invited him...so that shouldn't be a problem...right?

The raven-haired boy gulped as he lightly pressed the doorbell. Instead of a ringing sound, it was making music...nothing that he had ever heard before. It did feel familiar though. "Where have I heard that from..?"

Before he could figure out what it was, the door opened. "Good afternoon Shun." Mrs. Kuso greeted with a smile. "Don't be shy, come in. Dan's waiting for you at the living room."

"O-okay..." the boy didn't know why he was so jittery. This wasn't his first time visiting the brunette's place. Far from it, this would probably be the hundredth time or something. After noticing the various decorations hung on the walls, he realized what was making him so nervous. He stuck out like a sore thumb in this situation. Shun didn't know anything, and I mean anything about Christmas. Well, except for Santa Claus, everybody knows about him.

The red-eyed boy looked really happy to see his good friend there though. "You're here Shun!" he exclaimed with a toothy grin.

"Hi Dan..." he responded while placing his bag down on the sofa. "So, what am I supposed to help you with..?" the boy glanced around the room. "This place looks decorated enough already don't you think?"

"Well yeah, but we're missing the Christmas Tree."

"Tree..?" the older male repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, that's where we place all the gifts under until Christmas comes tomorrow! It's kind of tradition not to open them till it's Christmas Shun."

"I don't...really see why there has to be a tree, but okay. Let's get started then."

"That's the spirit." Dan's mom beamed as she carried a box in her hands filled with balls and other stuff. She placed it down on the ground and exhaled. Without another word, she picked up another cardboard box that had a crayon-drawn scribble that read 'Tree'. She began to assemble the pieces together, stacking the plastic trunk on top of each other. It was soon complete and nearly touched the ceiling, but it was completely bare. "And that's where these things come in!" the brunette smiled as he pulled up a red sphere.

"Lemme guess, we're going to decorate the tree by hanging those things on the leaves right?"

"Yep! Whoever puts the most gets to hang the star alright?"

"Wait, what do you mean star-" but he was completely ignored since Dan had already started placing different kinds of decor on the leaves/branches of the fake tree. Shun sighed and looked in to the box. He saw angels, candy canes (he was sure they were fake for his friend would have eaten them by now), gingerbread mans (again with the candy canes), balls covered in glitter, and a nice shiny gold five-pointed star inside. It definitely stood out amongst all the other stuff in it. Still, Shun didn't get why Dan didn't get the star if he wanted to hang it so much.

Either way, he helped the other boy out with the tree until there was only one item left. Out of the blue, the brunette went out of the room and came back with a ladder. "What's the ladder for?"

"For the star of course! We always place it on the very top of the tree!"

"Oh...so that's why it's so special." the raven-haired male thought. He watched as Dan hastily climbed up; holding the star between his teeth. Once he reached the top, he gently placed it on the pointy part of the tree. A perfect fit. Now all he had to do was go back down-"_Ah_-"

"Dan!"

_*thud*_...

"O-owww..." the boy muttered as he rubbed his back. "Shun?"

"Yes?" he groaned in reply. Only did the younger child realize he was sitting on his friend. "Oh shoot! I'm so sorry Shun! Are you okay?" he apologized as he scrambled off the raven-haired boy. "Do I...really have to catch you every time you fall?" he said as he wobbly stood up.

"No..." and then he chuckled a little. "You just happened to be there all the time."

In worry, Mrs. Kuso came back to check on the boys after the little accident. They were both fine, and she was relieved of that. She was actually making cookies, and was right in the middle of kneading the dough when Dan fell. Anyhow, they still had to put the lights on. Again, Shun didn't really get why they had to do all this, but since he wasn't doing anything, he was assisting the brunette in placing up the colorful lights on the tree. When they were done, Dan plugged it in and turned off the lights in the room. They both gazed at it in amazement, but then the brown-haired child had to break the spell because he said that there were other things that they had to do. "Plus it wastes electricity."

"When did you go green?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

-o-

Without them knowing, it was soon night time, and Dan's father just came home from work. He congratulated them for a beautiful Christmas Tree...and then Dan had to spoil it by bragging how many presents he got from his classmates at school. "There's no reason to boast about gifts you know." Shun told him. But the brunette ignored him and continued to jump around in excitement because it was Christmas tomorrow, and he would love to open all of those the next morning.

After dinner, Dan asked his parents if he could go outside with Shun. They agreed, but they had to get back before nine since well, it's Christmas Eve. "Why do we have to go out..?" the raven-haired boy asked.

"I dunno, I like to look up at the stars at this time." he replied as he looked up. "Don't you think it's cool that there's someone out there trying to make every kid in the world happy?"

"You mean...Santa?"

"Uh huh. Even though there are kids out there that didn't get any presents, they'll still have one for Christmas 'cuz Santa gives everybody."

"...do you...really believe in Santa Dan?"

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the chilly breeze blowing in the air. There were few cars around, and most people are at home spending time with their family. "Well, I never got any gifts from Santa before."

"So why-?"

"That's 'cuz I never really wished for anything. Okay, sure I want a new video game, or a pet dragon or something. But when I really think about it, all I want for Christmas is to be with mom and dad...and you too Shun."

"Me..?"

"Yeah. Ever since your mom went to the hospital..." the brunette's voice trailed off. "S-sorry, I probably shouldn't have brought that up."

"No, it's...fine." out of the blue, the both of them heard Mrs. Kuso calling from the door; telling them to go back inside. "We better go back. Mom's going to kill us if we don't."

"...go ahead Dan. I'll stay here for a little longer."

"You sure?" he nodded in reply. "Hurry back alright?" and soon it was only Shun that was there. The snowflakes started to fall from the sky, and all the boy could do was look up; wondering if there really is a Santa out there. Even though the lights were still on around the neighborhood and the stars above were twinkling brightly, he felt so alone...lost. He then thought...what if Santa can help his mom too? Just a little bit would be okay..."I-if...you're really out there Santa, hear me out." he mumbled. "I know it's late and all...but, you still have enough time to grant one more wish don't you..? All I want...for Christmas is for mom to get better..."

Shun didn't realize this, but when he was muttering his little prayer, the young brunette was there; watching. He really wanted to go to him, but he also knew it would be best to leave him alone for now.

"I'm...I'm going to give Shun the best Christmas he's ever had. That I promise." Dan told himself.

* * *

**A/N : **You could tell that it isn't that very good can't you? Yeah, I've been having terrible writer's block for this chapter, that's why it was posted so late. At least I was able to get to December 24 before the date changed.

Aww...poor Shun. Please Review guys! :D


	3. December 25

**December 25**

**Christmas Day**

"Shun...Shun, wake up." the brunette whispered softly as he shook his friend. The boy groaned and rubbed his eyes sleepily as he grabbed Dan's wrist to stop him from moving him any further. "What time is it..?" he muttered in a grumpy and sleepy tone. "It's Christmas." he grinned back.

"Aah...right...I'm going back to sleep."

"No, wait! Don't you want to help me open the presents..?"

"It's too early Dan..." he whined.

"No it isn't!" the raven-haired male quickly glanced at the clock. Even if his vision was blurry, he could still see the hands quite well. "It's six am." and with that he turned away and went under the blanket. The young brunette pouted as he tried to push him off the mattress. Shun didn't budge at all, so he had only one resort left.

He started poking at the parts he knew that were ticklish to anybody. As what Dan thought, his friend couldn't help but kick and scream as the child tickled him like crazy. "Okay okay okay!" he shouted as he failed to shove the boy away from him. "I'll go I'll go! Just stop!"

"Heh, I knew that would work." he beamed as he did his signature nose-flick. Shun grumbled silently as he tried to regain his composure. But after that, his whole body was totally sensitive. If ever someone would just lightly tap him, he would flinch and take a step back. Yeah, that's what a tickle attack can do to people.

The two silently went down the stairs and approached the Christmas Tree. Dan's eyes sparkled as he gazed at all the nicely wrapped presents below. Shun had no reaction though and was somewhat there just to watch him in case he would go overboard. One by one, the brunette would take a gift from the tree and claw it open. Most of the time his face would be filled with delight, but there were also some letdowns...for example, his uncle gave him a food container for this year. "And I was hoping it was something awesome judging from the size of it..." he muttered in disappointment.

Pretty soon, the only presents that were left were his parent's gifts. Everything else that he had gotten was placed on a table and will be used somewhere in the near-future. "So...now what do we do?" the raven-haired boy asked.

"Light up Shun! It's Christmas! You know, we're going to eat out for dinner later. Wanna come and join us?"

"Will...that be alright with your mom and dad?"

"Of course!" he took his friend by the wrist and pulled him to the TV. "I forgot to show this to you yesterday."

"And what am I supposed to be looking at?" the brunette pointed at the thin white box that was sitting beside the black screen. "Mom bought me a Wii for Christmas!" he then quickly took out a blue and white guitar and gave it to Shun. "She also bought this for Guitar Hero. Though...I kind of suck at it. Maybe you'll have better luck at it Shun." before the older male could even answer, Dan had already opened console and placed the CD inside. The TV was now on and the volume was turned down so as not to wake up his parents. Soon they were on the title screen, and the younger child gave a swift rundown on the controls. Picking a song, they started with something easy, and then the ninja started playing.

"Woah..." all Dan could do was stare in amazement as his friend hit nearly every note that came along. If ever he missed, he would curse quietly and continue on going without losing his cool. The song ended, and Shun got a 97% accuracy rate. Not bad for a total newbie. "This is your first time, and you're already better than me."

"Really? I don't find it that very challenging to be honest."

"Man, I kind of envy you now. You're the king of ninjas AND video games!"

"Well not-" he was cut off when Dan pressed the button for the next song, and Shun had no choice but to play it. He didn't have a chance to tell him that his arm was already sore...

-o-

The ninja was relieved that Dan's parents allowed him to stay longer. Actually, he was more relieved that his grandfather gave permission to do so. It was always his grandfather that made everything look so complicated...he then realized that he never did greet his mom Merry Christmas. Concerned, he asked he could be with her in the hospital for the day and then just fetch him before dinner. They agreed, but unexpectedly though, the brunette did not. "Why not?" he asked; surprised.

"'Cuz...I don't want you to spend the whole day doing nothing."

"Are you telling me that it's useless to stay with my mom for Christmas?" he growled in anger. "What happened to all that talk about being with family?"

"B-but-! I..." he stopped himself from going any further, or else he'll just spout out the promise he made last night to himself.

"Hmph. Whether you like it or not, I'm going."

"Fine, then I'll come with you." he said firmly.

"W-what..? You...can't be serious..."

"I mean it. However you're going to spend your Christmas Shun, I'll...I'll always be there for you. No matter ho-what it is." he was about to say 'boring', but then that would have angered the raven-haired boy more. Still, he wasn't planning to go back on it. He was dead serious. Even if it meant passing up two hours on the indoor playground with guns that shoot plastic balls and awesome slides and stacked jungle gyms. Yes, he would sacrifice that for Shun. He hadn't done anything at all ever since his mom went to the hospital. Dan never knew how to cheer him up. This was the least he could do.

"...okay. But don't blame me if you regret it."

"I...I won't." he replied. And in a small whisper, he mumbled to himself quietly. "I promised myself that I won't."

-o-

"Another day..." Shiori thought as she tried to breathe as smoothly as she could. The sickness was getting worse, and now she couldn't get out of bed unless there was someone to assist her. Every day, she would think about her son, wondering how he was doing with his grandfather. Was he doing well without him? Is he healthy and well? So many questions would swim around her mind as she stared blankly at the white ceiling. The morning was the same as always; the same usual routine. But in the afternoon, someone came to visit her today.

"Mom?" Shiori nearly cried in hearing his voice again. They both hugged as soon as they saw each other, though for the boy, it was a tiny bit awkward since...the brunette was there by the automatic door. "You brought Dan as well..." she muttered. The raven-haired boy noted how ragged her breathing became. That wasn't a good sign.

"Oh yeah, Merry Christmas Mom." he greeted softly. She nodded in reply as she showed him a sincere smile. "Maybe I shouldn't have come after all. I feel like I'm disturbing their reunion." Dan thought with a little guilt.

For the rest of the day, the two were telling all kinds of stories to his mom. About times when they went to different places together, school activities, and all kinds of other interesting topics. The young brunette even told Shiori about the time when Shun cried from the injection he had earlier this year in the school clinic. The ninja tried his best to stop his friend from telling, but in the end all he could do was listen and blush in embarrassment. It definitely made her day to see the two kids so happy with each other. It was like they were meant to be best friends.

Before they all knew it, it was already five in the late afternoon and they had to leave. Shiori couldn't help but shed a little tear as her son left the room, for she knew that she wouldn't stay that long in this world anymore. She cherished every moment she had with her son...for every time she sees him...may be her last.

-o-

In the end, they had a hearty dinner in a foreign restaurant. For some reason, Shun has a liking to shrimp and ordered the spicy one to Dan's protest. They also had fun scribbling on the place-mat that was sort of a piece of paper in there. When they were done, the young brunette heard the sounds of fireworks going off and decided to check it out. The raven-haired boy had no choice but to follow him out of the restaurant and outside. The duo did not expect the fireworks to be so close from where they were standing. There was even a guard there to tell the crowd to take a couple steps back because they might get hurt from the fireworks. It was amazing to see the explosions up close, and even though Dan was closing his ears, they both were amazed and gaping as they were gazing up in the sky. A perfect way to end the day.

"Merry Christmas Shun." Dan muttered as the fireworks were drawing to a close; the big ones were the next to come up; the ones that signaled it was the finale.

"...Merry Christmas Dan."

* * *

**A/N : **I am sorry if it didn't come out as nice as expected. I was in a terrible rush to finish this you see 'cuz tomorrow we're going to leave early morning and going out of the city...and well, it's 10:30 pm at the moment. Yeah, I was in a rush. I only started and finished this from 9 to now.

Yay~Merry Christmas everyone! Now you should review as a Christmas present for me. XD Man, I now officially hate deadlines. In update form.


End file.
